Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kay Hagan today helped pass bipartisan flood insurance legislation that includes her amendment to prevent homeowners from escrowing flood insurance premiums twice. The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, which delays steep flood insurance rate increases, passed the House of Representatives with widespread bipartisan support earlier this month, and the bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. Read more here.

NORTH CAROLINA

NEWS & OBSERVER: Rep. Tim Moffitt admits he asked Democratic opponent to drop out of State House race

Republican state Rep. Tim Moffitt of Asheville acknowledged Thursday that he asked his Democratic challenger Brian Turner to drop out of the race. But Moffitt vehemently denied suggesting he could help get Turner a state job in return. Read more here.

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: McCrory aide: Raising teacher pay to take years

RALEIGH, N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration sought Thursday to mend relations with North Carolina educators, responding to criticism about changes affecting public schools and teachers while seeking ways to build statewide consensus. Eric Guckian, McCrory’s education adviser, told hundreds of superintendents, principals and others who manage public schools that state political leaders are responding to complaints about low teacher pay, too much testing, and decisions that erode local control. Read more here.

GREENSBORO NEWS & RECORD: Brannon owes $450K over N.C. civil judgment

RALEIGH (AP) — U.S. Senate candidate Greg Brannon owes more than $450,000 after a North Carolina jury determined the Republican hopeful gave false or misleading statements to two investors about a startup company’s prospects. A judge signed the final judgment in the civil verdict against the Cary obstetrician this week. Wake County jurors last month found Brannon liable for the information he gave in 2010 to the men who then invested $250,000. Read more here.

NEWS & OBSERVER: NC Democrats to push bill to move all coal ash

RALEIGH, N.C. — Democrats at the North Carolina legislature say Duke Energy should be forced to move all of its coal ash to lined landfills away from water and make shareholders — not customers — pay for the cleanup. House and Senate Democrats unveiled Thursday the framework of a bill they intend to introduce when the General Assembly reconvenes in May. They want Republicans in charge of the legislature to join them given last month’s coal ash pond rupture along the Dan River. Read more here.

NATIONAL

POLITICO: POLL: Hillary Clinton trounces GOP in Iowa

Hillary Clinton leads New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and other Republican presidential contenders in Iowa by double digits, according to a new poll. Forty-eight percent of Iowan voters support Clinton compared to 35 percent for Christie, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. That’s a reversal of December’s poll in which Christie topped Clinton 45 percent to 40 percent. Read more here.

Senate negotiators struck a bipartisan deal Thursday that would renew federal unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, allowing for retroactive payments to go to more than 2 million Americans whose benefits expired in late December. Ten senators, evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans, announced the pact and set up a timeline in which the legislation could pass the Senate in late March. Read more here.

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